The present invention relates to apparatus for baling compressible material such as tobbacco and is an improvement over balers of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,758 which was granted on July 23, 1974 in the names of Joel C. Hart and Charles W. Traughler, Jr. In the operation of such apparatus, the material to be baled is introduced into an enclosed charging chamber having a board at its bottom. A ram moves within the chamber to compress the material onto the board. The ram then is partially withdrawn to allow a top board to be inserted within the chamber to cover the compressed material. The ram next is moved to engage the top board and the chamber is retracted so as to expose the bale formed by the boards and the compressed material. The bale thereafter is moved laterally out of the path of the chamber and the ram to a station where suitable straps or the like are secured about the bale to hold it intact.
According to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,758, after the top bale board is inserted within the chamber, the ram recompresses the bale to a thickness less than its final size. The ram then is removed from contact with the top board to relieve pressure on the bale, and during expansion of the bale, it is moved laterally by an ejector between two sets of powered rollers which convey the bale to the strapping station, making as many stops as straps are to be applied. However, such a procedure introduces a serious problem since the compressed material often expands non-uniformly so as to distort the bale shape. Such distortion can adversely affect the ejection operation, causing the bale to be ruined. Furthermore, the system requires additional motors to drive the poered rollers which must be precisely controlled to stop at each strapping position.
An important object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement whereby the bale is positively held at its proper size by the ram during the ejection step. If this were to be done with the apparatus of Patent 3,824,758, the ejector would be required to exert considerable force on the bale in order to overcome the substantial frictional resistance between the bale boards and the surfaces which the boards contact. With the present invention, an arrangement is provided whereby the formed bale is ejected with relatively low force being applied to the bale by the ejector.
Additionally, it is a further object of the invention to provide means for reducing the likelihood of accidental contact between the ram and the ejector. However, by employing an ejector operating with low force, even if such contact should occur, the likelihood of extensive damage is substantially reduced.
The present invention operates with fewer cyclic movements of the ram than is required by the arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,758. As a result, the control system utilized is simpler than that required to practice the invention disclosed in Patent 3,824,758. Consequently, the likelihood of an accident due to cyclic abnormality is reduced.